MMA fighter claws back from 'lowest point'

It's one thing for a mixed martial arts athlete to fight another person trying to knock him into next week. It's another to battle his opponent and depression at the same time.

Former Bellator featherweight champ Pat Curran, who trains in Crystal Lake, Ill., has fought his way back from his "lowest point" and will look to regain the title Friday at the Horseshoe Casino. The 26-year-old will face Daniel Straus in a highly anticipated rematch.

I started MMA when I [had] just turned 20. The main reason, the only reason, was because of my cousin Jeff [Curran]. He started 16 years ago and he's one of the pioneers of the sport. He's been around a long time. He was the whole reason I started pursuing it.

He found out I was wrestling in high school, so when I came up for his wedding in Island Lake, he sat me down, started talking a little bit and he showed me some of the footage from his fights. I was hooked. I had never seen anything like it. Just two guys going at it, beating the crap out of each other.

There was just something to it. I was really intrigued by it. A couple years go by and I decided I didn't want to do it. I was going to school to be a firefighter down in Florida, and my mom was really pushing me to do that.

Then the UFC came down to the Seminole Hard Rock, 20 minutes away from where I lived, and my cousin gave me and my dad two tickets to the show. After that night, and I remember it exactly, it was Sam Stout vs Spencer Fisher, their second fight. It was a hell of a fight. The next day I left Florida to come up to Chicago, to Crystal Lake, to start training.

What's it like winning the title for the first time?

Really, it's unexplainable. You put so much hard work into your fight. The stress, the anxiety, everything leading up to that fight. When I won it for the first time, it was a dream come true. My second title fight, the first one I lost. So I got close, got a taste of it, and had to go back through the wringer again and do a whole new tournament. Got my second title shot, won it and it was unbelievable. Dream come true, I was on cloud nine, there's no other feeling like it in the world.

How much tougher is it fighting while battling ADHD?

You know, all fighters have their own issues, and not just fighters, people in general. The ADD is not so much an issue, that's just what causing my problems because it was building up a lot of anxiety inside. And then the anxiety eventually turns into depression.

It started back when I was just a kid, when I was in middle school. It just really adds up over time, especially with life as a fighter. There's a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety leading into a fight. I've never stepped into a cage before in front of thousands of people and knowing that you're going to be on television in front of millions, it's a lot of pressure. Especially when you have all the cameras and lights shining on you.

It's something I had to deal with and recently just found out and am taking the right actions to correct it. The last couple months have been great. There's definitely been a turnaround since I sought help and started moving in the right direction.

That's why this fight is going to be a completely different fight from my last time. I was at the lowest [point] of my depression and it really affected my training camp, my training, my [most recent] fight. I wasn't myself in that fight. It wasn't just my fighting in general. I was losing friends, wasn't getting along with my head coach and my cousin Jeff and my team.

So I was definitely alone and in a dark place. But moving forward, I got past that. Now we're onto the third fight. I'm going to show everyone this is the new Pat Curran. I'm going to go out there and dominate him.